BJP like ‘fish out of water’ in Jharkhand, desperate for power: Soren

DUMKA: Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren on Thursday claimed that the BJP is desperate for power in the state and without it, the party is like "a fish out of water".

Jharkhand was created in November 2000 and the BJP was in power in the state for most of the time.

“Their (BJP's) leaders have been moving around the state for the past one year and applying all tricks to clinch power at any cost. They forgot that the power in Jharkhand is still in the hands of JMM, which would never bow under pressure,” Soren said

“Without power, the BJP's condition is like a fish out of water and the party wants to wrest it with money power,” he alleged while addressing a public meeting in support of JMM candidate Basant Soren in Dumka.

The chief minister alleged that the saffron party tried to pull down the JMM government hours after it was formed in 2019.

“They made efforts to poach our MLAs and MPs to execute their plan, but it failed,” claimed Soren who is also the JMM executive president.

“Since they (BJP) failed to form the government democratically, they used central agencies like ED and CBI to harass us. They implicated me in a false case and sent me to jail,” he alleged.

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) had arrested Soren on January 31 in a money laundering case linked to a land scam. He was released from jail after the high court granted him bail.

“Today, I am in the midst of you and standing like a rock to serve you,” Soren said referring to his return from jail.

He accused the BJP of being engaged in the politics of dividing the people on religious lines.

“They (BJP) failed to provide jobs, address the problems of poor farmers, labourers, Adivasis, Dalits and minorities,” Soren claimed.

The saffron party BJP cannot highlight a single achievement during its 20 years in power, he claimed.

Soren also questioned why the Election Commission was holding the assembly elections in the state before his government's tenure ended.